Heroic Traitors
by Pr1nce-0f-h0ll0wz
Summary: Naruto is stronger than most people think, and when Sasuke leaves because the village is "weak", Naruto begins to question the worth of the village, with new dreams and allies, where will his new path take him?
1. Naruto's decision

**Yo, how are you all? Well, I've read quite a few stories, and after picking up quite a few techniques, and getting some ideas, I've finally launched my first fan fiction story onto the site. As I've already told you all, this is my first story, and I would really appreciate constructive criticism, don't even waste your time "flaming", they'll be ignored completely. Anyway, without further ado, I bring to you all my first fan fiction, "Heroic Traitors", read and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, It belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto.**

"Naruto"- Speech

"_Naruto"- _Thought

"**Naruto**"- Demon

How long had it been since the began their mission to retrieve Sasuke? They had already covered so much ground, currently, Naruto was the only member of the squad still moving, He had left Kimimaro up to Lee, and all the other members of his squad had been fighting their separate battles.

'_Damn it, I will bring you back Sasuke, everyone is counting on me to bring you home!'_ Thought the orange clad ninja as he hopped from branch to branch.

The blonde had stayed behind Sasuke for the most part, not letting his black haired friend out of his sight as he followed in hot pursuit.

Naruto glared as he noticed the Uchiha begin to increase his speed, he started leaping faster in order to match his speed with his target.

Sasuke merely smirked as he noticed his blonde follower increase his speed.

'_It's only a matter of time now, soon I will have enough power to end Itachi once and for all_.' The thought brought an even bigger smirk to his face.

It was at that moment Sasuke noticed they had arrived, he noticed the sound of the roaring waterfall, and noticed the area where the forest ended.

They had arrived…

To the Valley Of End.

Sasuke Leaped at the edge of the cliff and took his place on top of the Madara statue head, he turned and looked to see Naruto on the First Hokage's head.

"Sasuke! Stop this right now! It's time to come back home before I have to make you!" Yelled the blonde genin.

Sasuke merely smirked at the boy on the opposite statue.

"You fool, Orochimaru can offer me way more power than this pathetic village. You don't get it do you? That village has nothing for me. I will join Orochimaru, and after becoming Powerful, I will find and kill Itachi."

Naruto sighed at the Uchiha.

"Sasuke you need to let it go. He's not worth it. Please just end this personal vendetta and come home, Before I force you to."

"Heh, that's a laugh, you, beat me? I would love to see that loser."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Careful what you wish for, Bastard."

"You know Naruto, they say this canyon, along with the waterfall, was formed from the fight between the First Hokage, and Madara Uchiha."

"And? What's your point?" Questioned the blonde.

"My point is, since there's no way in hell I'm going back to that weak little village, why don't you try and stop me? Right here, right now."

'_I knew the Secret training with the Pervert would come in handy, oh well, this is it_.' Thought the blonde.

"Fine Sasuke, have it your way."

The blonde vanished from his spot on the Statues head, reappearing directly behind of Sasuke and Launching his right fist directly into the Uchiha's back. The blow sent Sasuke soaring through the air, Naruto took this time to reappear behind Sasuke, putting his two fists together the blonde smashed his fists down onto the Uchiha's face. Sasuke was sent plummeting downward, straight into the water below, causing a massive splash.

Sasuke winced in pain as he sunk to the bottom of the river.

'_How the hell? I didn't even sense him behind me, how on earth did he get so damn powerful?'_

Above the River, Naruto was standing atop the waves with his improved chakra control, he had a serious look in his eye as he eyed the water, crossing his arms over his chest, he began to think.

'_Now, where the hell is he.' _Thought the blonde.

The blonde watched the water like a hawk, he turned his attention to his right when he noticed a popping sound, bubbles were escaping from the water below.

Naruto smirked as he watched Sasuke begin to climb out of the water, the Uchiha struggled to stand on his feet as he glared at the blonde.

"It seems you've been taking secret training sessions." Muttered the Uchiha.

"Yeah, well since Kakashi is useless, I thought I might as well train with my true sensei Jiraiya."

"Training with one of the sannin eh? I might have underestimated you."

"Oh you definitely did." Whispered Naruto.

The blonde rushed towards Sasuke at a break-neck speed, the blonde leaped into the air and Launched his right leg outward to roundhouse kick Sasuke, the Uchiha ducked just in time to avoid the blow, but as he attempt to uppercut the blonde with his left fist, he saw only air.

Naruto reappeared to the left of the obsidian haired ninja, and lodged his right fist firmly into Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke lost his footing from the blow and began to fall backwards, thinking quickly, the Uchiha back-flipped onto his feet and Launched his left leg into Naruto's ribs.

Naruto was sent skidding across the river from the kick, skidding to a halt the blonde began to sink about fifty yards from Sasuke. The Uchiha ran towards the spot where the blonde began to sink to try and get another hit in, to his surprise, and shock, his ankles were grabbed by his opponent's hands.

Naruto tightened his grip as his hands reached out from under the water and onto Sasuke's ankles. Naruto somersaulted out of the river, and, taking Sasuke with him, began to flip the Uchiha in the air, after building enough force, Naruto released his foe's ankles and sent Sasuke Flying into the wall of the canyon, forming a small crater on impact.

'_This is ridiculous, how is he dominating me in this fight? This fight should already be over, with him lying Dead! I'm going to have to use the curse mark.' _The black haired boy thought.

Sasuke struggled to his feet, he was exhausted, Naruto had not wasted any free time, he must have been secretly training for months. But Sasuke also had a trump card, the thought gave him a grin.

"Naruto, I'm going to show you why Your village's ninja are weak! Look at what will be your destruction now!"

Now Naruto had been thinking about what Sasuke was saying, maybe Konoha wasn't all he thought it was, after all, he had no respect from the villagers, and only after he defeated Kiba and Neji had anyone even shown they knew of his existence. Hell, even when he defeated Gaara, Sakura believed Sasuke had saved her.

'_More and more I'm starting to believe Sasuke has the right idea, I'm still not sure though.'_ Was all the blonde was thinking.

"**To hell with that village boy, It's only been holding you back, leave it, be your own boss, start your own village if you wish, make your own rules.**" Spoke the Fox.

'_You choose now to speak fox? While I'm starting to wonder if you've got the right idea, I can't do anything about that until this Idiot is out of my way.' _Thought the blonde as glared at his opponent.

"**You read my mind boy, I'll give you some of my chakra, finish this fool quickly, I tire of his constant Boasting."**

Naruto nodded as the fox's chakra began to flow through his body, Sasuke began to worry as red chakra began to swarm around Naruto's body, His nails grew into claws, his canines grew in size and became sharp, his whisker marks grew in depth, Naruto closed his eyes as he let the rest of the fox's chakra into his body.

Sasuke began to shake from the sight he had just witnessed, this enemy was no joke, Sasuke's eyes only widened further as Naruto opened his eyes to reveal his pupil to be in a pupil shape, and his eyes colored red.

'_What is he? I doubt even the curse mark form will help me now, this chakra is almost suffocating.'_

Naruto looked at his reflection in the water, then to his hands, the he led his hand into his mouth and felt his newly developed fangs.

'_This, is going to be fun.' _The Fox container thought.

Sasuke took this moment to transform into his curse mark form, he gritted his teeth as the fiery curse mark shapes appeared all over his face and body.

Naruto looked at Sasuke in Curiosity as the Uchiha's skin turned darker, turning a dark grey, in addition, his hair began to grow much longer, but not losing it's style. A black star shaped mark appeared on the bridge of Sasuke's nose as the transformation continued, in pain, Sasuke kneeled to the ground, holding his head with his hands and screaming, his back began to move and squirm, as two wings shot out of his back, shaped like webbed hands.

Sasuke slowly stood, looking at his new body in his reflection in the water below, although he knew his strength had significantly, he knew he was still a bit weaker than his opponent, and this worried him greatly.

'_There's no way in hell I can win this fight, but I'm going to need to fight in order to get away.'_ The curse marked Uchiha thought.

Naruto gave a feral grin to Sasuke before dashing at him and slashing at the Uchiha. Sasuke was taken by surprise by the sudden attack, but none the less blocked the slashes, Naruto swiped his left hand at Sasuke's chest, slashing the Uchiha and leaving a large gash across his chest.

Sasuke grunted in pain as a small amount of blood began to ooze out of the gash, he had to time to worry about the wound, as Naruto was launching a full scale assault against the Uchiha.

Naruto Implanted his fist into Sasuke's stomach, sending him flying upwards into the sky, Naruto leapt into the air, raising his right leg over his head, shot it downward on top of the Uchiha's head. Sasuke was sent downward towards the water, but as he neared closer and closer to the water below, Naruto appeared, and, Grabbing him by his left ankle, launched him into a nearby canyon wall.

Sasuke was done, and he knew it. There was no chance he was even going to get up.

'_This is it, I'm finished.' _The Uchiha thought as he coughed up a small amount of blood.

Naruto began to walk slowly towards Sasuke, the seriousness never leaving his face as he looked at the slightly conscious Uchiha.

Sasuke smiled weakly at Naruto.

"Well loser, I guess you surpassed me, maybe Konoha has some decent fighters after all. I mean, look at you and me."

"No Sasuke, you were right Konoha breeds weak ninja, and we are nothing alike, I could kill you right now, but you know what?"

"What?" Sasuke inquired.

"I am going to let you leave, and go to Orochimaru, I want you to train with him knowing I defeated you so easily, get stronger so maybe when we meet again you won't disgrace the "Oh so great" Uchiha name." Naruto spoke, his voice filled with sarcasm.

Naruto began to slowly walk away, his victory over the Uchiha being enough of a prize.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a burning hatred in his eye, the boy had not only defeated him, he pitied him. He watched as Naruto vanished from view, Sasuke began to slowly stand up, his curse mark form receding, leaving only his battered body to stand in the small crater he was thrown into.

'_I will get you Naruto, along with Itachi, you both will die at my hand.'_ Thought the Uchiha, before slowly limping his way to the forest.

Naruto made his way through the forest, now out of his demonic form. He had started to sense Kakashi before he threw Sasuke, he had let Sasuke go, because, in his mind, he didn't owe that village anything.

Into the distance he saw Kakashi closing in with his summon, Pakkun. They both seemed surprised to see the orange clad ninja leaping towards them.

They closed their distance relatively quickly. Meeting a random branch. Kakashi chose to speak first.

"Naruto, did you find Sasuke?" The copy ninja questioned.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-Sensei, but Sasuke has Escaped, I couldn't defeat him." Naruto lied.

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Just be thankful your alive Naruto, Sasuke chose his path, just like you are free to choose yours."

"I know, thank you Sensei." The blonde ninja replied, thinking about his earlier thoughts during his fight with Sasuke.

Kakashi let out a sigh.

"We should get back to the village. A medic team already picked up the others."

"Yeah, lead the way Sensei." Naruto replied.

The two bounded off through the branches again, every now and then Kakashi would look at Naruto with a worried eye.

'_He barely even has a scratch on him, and I thought he would be more upset than this.' _The sharingan user thought to himself.

Naruto had different thoughts on his mind.

'_Should I leave or stay? Granny Tsunade will mark me as a traitor if I go, but I'm not going to get much stronger if I stay, I need to travel, I need to train harder than ever, I have my own dreams, and they just aren't going to happen if I keep heading down this road_.' The blonde thought.

The blonde gave a sad smile.

'_I've decided, I'm leaving Konoha.'_

**First major fight scene I've ever done, good, bad, need improvement? Whatever you guys decide, I hope some people enjoyed it. Pairings? Yes, No? Here's a little preview of the next chapter.**

'_If I'm going to survive while traveling out in the real world as a missing nin, I might want to see If I can get some friends to come along for the ride.'_


	2. The team

**Sup guys, hope your all doing well, first of all, I really didn't expect this much feed-back, I decided to try and do another chapter as a way to say, thank you. Thank you to my reviewers, the readers always right, so anyway moving on, I bring to you all chapter two of Heroic Traitors. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, He belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto.**

"Naruto"- Speech

"_Naruto"- _Thought

"**Naruto**"- Demon

Naruto and Kakashi arrived in town to learn that Naruto's teammates had all been taken to the hospital, and were currently being attended to. Kakashi had brought Naruto in to the hospital also, much to the blondes displeasure, to be treated from his fight with Sasuke.

Although Naruto was only slightly fatigued from his fight with Sasuke, he felt it would be better if he dragged his pain out a bit to take away any suspicion by his sensei.

Naruto had been put into a room and forced to stay in the hospital for a few days, he shared the room with Shikamaru Nara, who was recovering from his fight with Tayuya, and Neji, who had awoken the night they brought him into the hospital, they treated his wounds without to much difficulty, but the Hyuuga would have to stay in the hospital for a week longer than Naruto and Shikamaru.

Naruto had just finished losing to the shadow user in a game of Shougi, the two had grown into closer friends because of being stuck together, and Naruto wanted to tell Shikamaru of his plan.

'_If I'm going to survive while traveling out in the real world as a missing nin, I might want to see If I can get some friends to come along for the ride.'_ The blonde thought.

'_Shikamaru is an excellent strategist, if I was able to somehow get him to join my team, I'd be in good shape.'_

Naruto looked at the Nara boy, who was currently sitting on the windowsill of the room looking at the clouds.

Naruto gave a sigh.

'_This could prove to be difficult.'_

That night, while Neji lay asleep, and Shikamaru had just gone to bed, Naruto decided it was now or never if he wanted his shadow wielding friend on his team.

Naruto slipped out of bed and snuck past Neji's bed over to Shikamaru's window-side bed. He slowly shook the Nara boy awake.

"Shikamaru, get up, c'mon, follow me." the blonde spoke, as he opened up the window.

A groggy Shikamaru slipped out of bed without a question, and followed Naruto onto the hospital's roof.

Shikamaru gave a light yawn.

"What is this all about Naruto?"

"Shikamaru, I need to tell you something very important, promise me you won't tell anyone, no matter what."

"Yeah, I promise I guess, what's the big secret?" the shadow user asked.

"I-I want to leave the village, so I can travel, and eventually start up my own village." the blonde whispered.

Naruto watched as the Nara boy's eyes widened, he just stared at Shikamaru' s unreadable expression, then slowly, Shikamaru's face broke into a small smile.

"And let me guess, you want me to come with you?" The shadow user asked.

"I want to put together a team to get started, but I figured I'd ask you first, since well, you're the genius of the group."

"You've earned my respect from that last mission Naruto, and although I love the village, things have become a bit stale for me, although it would be troublesome to be a missing nin, I'll join your team. You'd better have a good plan set up so we-" Shikamaru turned his head as a third person stepped onto the roof.

"You guys should have figured I wasn't really sleeping." Spoke Neji.

Neji turned to Naruto.

"So, planning to make your own village? Don't you know how difficult that will be Naruto? We'll need money, equipment, you should have seriously thought this out." The Hyuuga spoke in a knowing tone.

"Neji, don't do it, you don't have to do this." Naruto reasoned.

"And what would I be doing?" the Hyuuga questioned.

"You're not going to turn us in?" Asked Shikamaru.

"I was actually thinking of becoming a part of your team, seeing as how Naruto was the one who told me I can change my fate for myself."

"So, you're in?" the blonde asked.

"I'm in." Replied Neji.

The three went to bed soon after, they had a lot to plan, and they wanted it done within the week, they planned it so as soon as Neji was released from the Hospital, they could leave on that night.

Naruto and Shikamaru had already been released from the hospital, and were currently thinking of people they could recruit.

"Hey Shikamaru, what about Chouji?" the blonde questioned.

"While he is my best friend, I don't think he could make it traveling with us, we should get him when and if we get the village set up."

The Nara turned to Naruto.

"You know Naruto, Gaara and his siblings are still in town, they would be a great addition, and since Gaara respects you so much, it should be easy to get them to join us."

Naruto's eyes widened, of course, Gaara was still in town for another few days. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?

Naruto took off towards the hotel Gaara and his siblings were staying in, with Shikamaru following in hot pursuit. After several minutes they reached the hotel to see the sand trio walking out onto the streets. Naruto ran over to Gaara and greeted him.

"Gaara, it's been too long, how's it going?"

Gaara gave a small smile.

"Naruto Uzumaki. To what do I owe the honor of your company?"

Naruto gave a sigh.

"Well Gaara, do you have a place we can talk? Maybe your hotel room?"

Temari and Kankuro raised an eyebrow at the blonde, what could he want with their brother?

Gaara nodded and the five shinobi went into the hotel room up to the room Gaara was staying in. They walked into the room and Gaara shut the door. Temari and Kankuro sat down on the bed, Shikamaru stood by the window, and Naruto pulled up a chair.

"Well Gaara, I need to ask you something…" the blonde started, starting to inwardly pray for Gaara's positive response.

Gaara merely raised an eyebrow to his blonde friend.

'_What could he possibly need from me?'_ the red headed sand shinobi thought.

"You see Gaara, when Sasuke left, he continually mentioned the village being weak, and holding him back, I'm starting to think the same thing, I have a new dream Gaara, I want to start up my own village, I've started to put a team together in order to survive out there. Shikamaru here has already agreed to join, and once Neji gets out of the hospital, we're going to be leaving, so I guess what I'm asking is, will you and your siblings join?" the blonde explained.

Gaara's eyes widened to Naruto's question, before going to an unreadable expression. He looked to his brother and sister, who were both staring at Naruto with wide eyes.

"Hmm, Naruto, can you give us some time to talk about this?" Gaara asked the blonde.

Naruto gave his friend a smile.

"Sure Gaara, give me your answer tomorrow, come on Shikamaru."

The Nara nodded to Naruto, and they both left Gaara's hotel room, getting onto the street, the two decided to split up, and go to their homes.

The sun had almost set, and Naruto was almost home, taking his sweet time getting home and enjoying his last few days in the village, he looked to see Ino walking towards him on the opposite side of the street. With a small smile he approached her.

"Hey Ino, how's it going?"

"Naruto, hey, I haven't seen you for awhile, where have you been?"

Naruto gave a small smile.

"Oh, I've been…busy." Naruto quietly spoke

'_What's up with him, he's so quiet_.' she thought.

"So Ino, how is everything? You're looking good."

A light blush appeared on her cheeks.

'_And he's giving me compliments too? What has gotten into him?_.'

"Actually I was just heading home, it was good to see you Naruto, see you later." she gave him a small smile and went in the opposite direction he was headed.

He turned to face her as she walked off.

"Good to see you too Ino."

He reached his home relatively quickly after that, and, after taking a quick shower, changing his clothes for bed, and making a bowl of ramen, he decided he should pack some essentials for the road.

He went to his closet and pulled out his only backpack, the one he used for his missions with his team.

Reaching into his closet, he began to put different items into the pack, he grabbed his extra kunai and shuriken, some of his scrolls, bandages, and other various supplies he and his team would need while traveling.

He continued to rummage throughout his closet, and, finding everything in his pack in order, he zipped it up and lay it next his bed.

The blonde looked around his home, looking for anything he could have forgotten to put in his pack. Seeing everything to be satisfactory, he lied down on his bed and pulling his covers over him, let sleep take him.

**The Next Day.**

Naruto awoke with a yawn, looking to his bedside clock, noticed it was 9:30 am, sliding out of bed, the blonde showered himself, got dressed, and made his way outside for breakfast at Ichiraku's.

The blonde made his way through town, moving quietly through the crowds of villagers who were shopping, walking, and working throughout the town.

Naruto noticed how most villagers still seemed uneasy around him, they didn't still give him glares, they just seemed to be a bit awkward and uncomfortable when he walked by. It wasn't like he cared, he'd be gone in a couple days, on to bigger and better adventures.

The fox stirred inside Naruto.

"**So boy, have you found any more members for your little team?" **he questioned.

'_Well, after I eat, I'm going to go see Gaara, and see what his decision is.'_

"**Good, your plans are coming into motion boy, it's going to be fun traveling the world again."**

'_What are things like out there fox, I mean, other than doing the mission for Tazuna, and the mission to bring back Sasuke, I haven't really seen the world outside Konoha.'_

"**It's great, like nothing you've ever seen, from the deserts of Wind Country, to the mountains of Earth Country, the world is a big place my boy, and your going to need to see it all if you want to grow powerful."**

A small smile graced Naruto's face as he made his way through the village, growing closer and closer to his destination.

Naruto reached Ichiraku's relatively quickly, and, after greeting the stores owner, Teuchi, and chatting a bit with the owner's daughter Ayame, Naruto ate his meal, paid and left.

The blonde made his way to the hotel in which Gaara was staying, he made his way inside and up the stairs to the room Gaara and his siblings stayed in.

Naruto gave the door a knock, and within 10 seconds Gaara stood there, with a small smile on his face.

"We'll join." he whispered, before closing the door on Naruto.

Naruto knocked on the door again.

"Meet us at the entrance gate at eight o' clock tomorrow, and bring whatever you need for the road.

The blonde was happier than words could describe, his group have just gained three more members, all of them being strong shinobi.

Naruto needed to tell Shikamaru and Neji the news, he set out to find Shikamaru, and soon enough, when passing one of Konoha's many barbeque restaurants, the blonde found the genius of his group with his team, treating Chouji to pork.

Naruto approached the team, and while putting on a small smile, he stood by the table.

"What's up guys? Hey Shikamaru, can I see you for a second"

Shikamaru nodded, and the two made their way outside the Restaurant.

Ino was the first to speak.

"What could Naruto need with Shikamaru?" The Yamanaka asked.

"I don't know, but it must be important." The Akimichi responded, while not even looking up from his meal.

Outside the restaurant, Naruto started to tell his friend of the new additions to the group.

"So Shikamaru, guess what I have to tell you."

Shikamaru gave a sigh.

"…What is it Naruto?"

"Well, we have three new additions to the group." the blonde said while showing a huge grin.

"I'll talk to you later Shikamaru, I'm going to go head to the hospital and tell Neji. Oh, by the way, meet us at the entrance gate tomorrow night at eight, bring your pack and supplies for the road."

Shikamaru nodded and opened the doors to the restaurant, and went back inside to his team.

Ino raised an eyebrow to her team-mate as he sat back down

"So, what was that all about Shikamaru?" she asked.

"Nothing Ino, Naruto was just telling me some good news."

Naruto rushed to the hospital to tell the Hyuuga boy the good news, he made his way inside and found Neji's room, he knocked and walked in.

Naruto gave his friend a grin.

"What's up Neji? If I'm not mistaken, you're going to be getting out tomorrow."

"Yes I will be, but, you must have some reason for coming here, what's going on?"

Naruto's grin only widened.

"We have three more members to the team."

Neji's eyes widened.

"Who are they?"

"Gaara, Temari and Kankuro."

A small smirk turned to Neji's face.

"Interesting, they'll make for good members, so when do you plan on us leaving?"

Naruto's expression turned serious.

"Tomorrow night. Meet us at the entrance gate at eight o' clock, bring a pack filled with supplies."

Little did Naruto know that outside the door stood one of Shikamaru's team-mates.

Ino had followed Naruto when he had left the restaurant. She had excused herself from the table, saying she had to go to work at the flower shop. Putting some money down on the counter, the Yamanaka made her way through town, following the blonde boy that had suddenly gained her interest.

Ino's eyes widened at Naruto's statement.

'_Are they going on a mission? But if they were going on a mission for the village, why would they wait for Naruto's go ahead? Could they be…leaving?'_

Ino moved her way down the hall as she heard Naruto make his way toward the door.

Moving her way out of the hospital, she started to make her way home.

'_Should I tell anyone about this?_.' Thought the blonde as she made her way home.

Naruto was ecstatic while making him way home.

'_Tomorrow, the plan will be set into motion.'_

**As you can see, I'm probably headed towards NaruIno. Although it could change, but that depends on votes, and votes require people to not be brain dead. Anyway I'll pump the next chapter out as soon as I can.**

**Preview of the next chapter.**

**'**_Goodbye Konoha.'_


	3. Goodbye

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry that this chapter has taken longer then normal. My birthday was this week and I've been busy with other events. Anyway, I won't keep you guys any longer, here's chapter three.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, he belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto.**

Naruto awoke with a smile on his face.

'_Today, today marks my first step towards my dreams.'_

The blonde crawled out of bed, showered himself, made his way to his closet, selected his usual orange jumpsuit, and made his way outside.

Naruto made his way through the streets of Konoha quickly, he made his way to Ichiraku's. Naruto gave old man Teuchi a soft smile and ordered his usual dish. The food was served within a few minutes and Naruto began to slowly eat.

The blonde had a sad smile on his face as he finished his ramen.

'_If there's one thing I'm going to miss in this village, it's Ichiraku's ramen.'_

The blonde reached into his pocket and put the money for his meal down on the counter, he gave the old man and his daughter a polite goodbye, being careful to not arouse suspicion.

The blonde made his way through town, he stopped as he noticed a ninja clothing shop.

'_If we're going to be traveling as missing nins, I should probably change from the orange look.' _the blonde thought to himself.

Naruto made his way into the shop, he looked at the wares for a half hour, after which he made his way to the counter with his selection.

The blonde bought himself his new wardrobe, a long black jacket with a high collar, a matching black tee shirt, the pants he bought were long, dark grey cargo pants, and finally he bought new black ninja sandals.

Naruto left the shop with his items in his shopping bag, and made his way through the village, wondering what he still had to do.

'_Hmm, it's four o'clock now, I wonder what I could do until it's time to meet everyone?' the boy pondered to himself._

As he made his way through the streets, he failed to notice Ino and Sakura approach him.

The girls noticed him from across the street, Sakura had asked Ino if she could help her with a few errands around town, and the blonde agreed.

Ino had noticed Naruto first and told Sakura.

"Hey Sakura, Naruto's across the street from us."

The pink haired girl looked across the street then back to her friend.

"Do you like him or something Ino? You've kinda talked about him the whole time we've been out."

A light blush made its way to Ino's face.

"No I don't like him! …It's just, I'm worried about him, ever since he got back, he's been so quiet, and he's been talking to Shikamaru a lot more. I know their friends and everything, but the always speak in private."

Sakura raised an eyebrow and look at Naruto as he walked down the street.

"C'mon, let's talk to him." the pink haired genin whispered.

Sakura grabbed Ino's arm and began to drag her with her, until the blonde slapped her hand away.

"I can walk fine, thank you very much forehead!"

Sakura ignored the comment, and the two made their way to the unsuspecting blonde boy.

Sakura spoke first to the boy.

"Hey Naruto, what are you doing?"

Said blonde nearly jumped in the air of shock, he turned around to see the two girls looking at him in interest.

"Oh, hey Ino, hey Sakura, I was just doing some shopping around town, before I meet with some people."

The two girls raised their eyebrows at him.

"And just who would you be meeting with?" the Yamanaka asked.

"I'm going to be meeting with Shikamaru, Neji, Gaara, and his siblings." Naruto replied.

Ino looked over to Sakura, to see her eyes slightly widen, the pink haired girl looked over to her friend and nodded.

"Well, I really should be going, we should do something sometime, you two are looking great." Naruto said quietly.

He gave Ino a wink, then made his way to his team.

"Well Ino, Naruto is definitely acting different, and it's kind of nice."

Ino raised an eyebrow to her friend.

"Well, he's being polite, and quiet. Not to mention he's complimenting us, and did you see the wink he gave you?"

The blonde nodded slowly.

"I think, he likes you." Sakura whispered.

"I don't think so Sakura, he's just being polite is all." Ino replied with a sad smile.

'_Could he really like me? He's changed so much, I think I'd actually really enjoy going out with him.'_ the blonde thought to herself.

Sakura had a strange look in her eye, along with a mischievous smile.

"Come on, let's follow him."

"What!? We can't just follow him around town! It'd be like stalking him." the blonde argued.

"Come on, don't you want to know what he's going to talk to them about?" Sakura insisted.

"Well…" Ino began.

"Then come on!" Sakura shouted.

Sakura grabbed Ino's arm once again, and began dragging her in the direction that Naruto had went.

Naruto continued through the town, unaware of the two girls following him, he made his way downtown, and made his way into a nearby restaurant.

He made his way inside, and spotted his team at one of the nearby booths, he gave a smile as he noticed Shikamaru give a lazy wave.

He approached the booth as the rest of his group looked to him.

"What's up everyone? You guys ready for tonight?" Naruto asked, while setting down his bag.

"Yeah, we should be ready, I have my stuff all ready." the lazy chuunin replied.

"I'm ready to leave whenever you are Naruto." the Hyuuga prodigy replied

"We'll be ready when the time comes." the red haired Suna shinobi stated, while his siblings gave Naruto a nod.

Ino and Sakura had taken a seat near the group, without a member of the group noticing.

They had heard the entire conversation.

"Are they going on a mission?" Sakura whispered to her friend.

"No, I asked lady Tsunade if Naruto was scheduled for any missions, she said he wasn't scheduled for any missions for the next month." Ino whispered back.

Sakura's eyes widened a bit, as she turned and looked to Naruto and his group, as they were engaged in their own conversation.

She turned back to look at Ino, who had a sad look on her face.

"Don't worry Ino, it's not like their going to be leaving…" Sakura reasoned.

Ino gave her friend a sad smile.

"Naruto talked to Neji yesterday about leaving, I had followed him to the hospital and eavesdropped on their conversation. They talked about leaving then too, and I told you about how Naruto has been talking with Shikamaru in private." the blonde replied to her friend.

Sakura gave a small gasp, and looked back to Naruto's group. She turned back to Ino and mouthed a "Lets go.", the blonde nodded slowly, and the two made their way out of the restaurant.

Naruto and his team made their way out of the restaurant, and stopped outside the front door.

"Alright guys, I'll meet you all at the gates in two hours. See you all then." Naruto's team nodded to him, and he made his way towards the Hokage's tower.

Naruto snuck into Tsunade's office through the window, left a note on the desk, and left quietly through the way he had came in.

The blonde boy opened the door in his home to retrieve his backpack. The blonde looked around his home, making sure he had not forgotten anything, when something caught his eye.

Two scrolls sat on his kitchen counter, along with a note.

The blonde picked up the note and began to read.

_Dear Naruto,_

_Hello brat, how are things? I'll skip to the main reason I've written this letter. I know that you are leaving the village Naruto, I am your sensei after all, I know what goes on in your head. I'm not going to stop you, but I offer these two scrolls to you. One is a list of different jutsu I've learned throughout my years of traveling, the other…is a letter to you from your father, it contains your father's hidden jutsu within it. The reason I'm giving these to you is because, I know that eventually the Akatsuki will come after you, and if I can't train you in person, I will give you every jutsu I know. The last bit of information is that I will be leaving the village once again, to check on the spy network throughout the world, so we may meet up, it would be nice to see how much you've learned. Take care of yourself brat, and I look forward to seeing you on the road._

_Your teacher,_

_Jiraiya, the toad sannin_

Naruto's eyes began to tear as he finished reading his teacher's letter.

'_Damn pervert, always worrying about me.'_

"**He's a good teacher boy, you should show him gratitude if you see him in the future."**

'_I know fox, I will, thanks for the advice.'_

"**It's about time we got going boy, wouldn't want to keep the others waiting would you?"**

Naruto nodded and put the letter and scrolls into his pack, he started to make his way to the door until he heard a light knock.

Naruto sighed and shook his head as he opened the door.

Outside, in the hallway, stood Ino, with a small smile on her face.

"Naruto, hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go get a bowl of ramen with me? It would be my-" Ino's eyes widened as she noticed the pack on Naruto's back.

Naruto shook his head softly, then locked eyes with Ino.

"Sorry Ino, but I can't tonight." he replied in a sad tone.

Ino's head fell a bit.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" she whispered.

Naruto's eyes widened, before returning to normal.

"Yeah, I am." he replied.

Her head shot up, and Naruto noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Why!? Why would you leave the village!? Why would you leave me…"

"I'm sorry, but Ino, you've never really showed any care for me before."

"Things change…" Ino muttered back to him.

"I'm sorry Ino, but I'm going. I need to do this to get stronger."

Ino quickly embraced him in a hug.

"Please Naruto, don't do this."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Naruto's eyes widened as she gave him the light kiss.

"I'm sorry Ino…"

In a lightning quick motion, he knocked her out, he picked her up carefully, and laid her onto his bed, he then quietly made his way out of his home, and on to the street.

Naruto neared the gate, and saw his friends waiting for him.

He gave them a small smile before speaking.

"Let's go."

They all nodded, and they began making their way out of the village.

Naruto looked back as they went farther and farther from the village.

'_Goodbye Konoha…'_

**Guys I'm sorry, I couldn't get to where I wanted in this chapter, but fear not! I will get there and a little bit farther in the next chapter, see you all next time.**

**Preview of the next chapter.**

Tsunade's eyes widened as she read the letter.

"Naruto, what have you done?"


	4. The chase begins

**Hello everyone. First of all I'd like to start things off by saying sorry this took longer than the others, I've been in a bit of a writers block, but I'm all good. Next on the list is last chapter, if the Naru/Ino came a little quickly for some of you, it was only because we need to get this story going. Moving on, the chapters should start coming at a quicker pace now, some ideas have been pressed into my head, and I will use them to my advantage. But I won't bore you all anymore, let's start the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, he belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto.**

Morning had come to Konoha, and the town was busy as always.

Tsunade had awoken early, and made her way to her office quickly, in an attempt to finish her paperwork earlier than usual. As she made her way into the office, she noticed no paperwork, what caught her eye was a small envelope sitting in the middle of her desk.

She quietly opened the letter and began to read.

_Dear Granny Tsunade,_

_I have been thinking for quite some time about something Tsunade. While on my mission to retrieve Sasuke, the Uchiha said over and over again that the village was not a suitable place to train and grow powerful, as he continually spoke the insults to the village, I thought to myself, "He brings up a good point, what has the village ever truly given me?" I'll tell you Lord Hokage, nothing. _

_If I'm right, then you'll be waking up nice and early tomorrow and you'll find this on your desk. The whole point to this thing is, by the time you get this, I will have already left the village of Konoha. I bring along with me Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, and Gaara, Temari and Kankuro of the sand. We wish only the best things for the village, but we will not be around to see it's future. Thanks for everything granny Tsunade._

_Ex shinobi of the leaf,_

_Naruto Uzumaki _

_P.S- The necklace you gave me, it's in the envelope._

Tsunade stared at the letter with wide eyes, she had several emotions running through her right now, sadness, of losing such good shinobi. There was fear, of knowing the letter was serious, but most of all, there was anger.

The sake loving Hokage gritted her teeth, and turned her attention to her assistant as she made her way into the room.

"SHIZUNE! GET OUR GENIN IN HERE NOW!"

The entire town shook from the outburst, and within the hour, Kiba Inuzuka, Chouji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, Rock Lee, Hinata Hyuuga, and Ten Ten had made their way into the office, along with their jounin instructors.

Tsunade's eyes still held a bit of tears, but she was able to control herself.

"All of you, I bring you all terrible news, Na-…Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, and Neji Hyuuga have left the village." she said, barely above a whisper.

Everyone's eyes widened at the news, and some, including Sakura, Chouji, and Hinata, began to tear up in the eyes.

'_First Sasuke…now you too Naruto?' _thought the pink haired genin.

'_This is most unyouthful, my rivals have left the village? I will not allow this!' _thought Lee.

Asuma's cigarette had dropped from his mouth, as he stood standing, wide eyed.

Guy wasn't doing better as he bent down and punched the floor, with tears in his eyes.

Hinata had no thoughts in her head, her cousin, and the person she looked up to in the world, were gone from the village, possibly forever.

'_Naruto, Neji.'_ thought the Hyuuga.

Chouji's bag of chips had laid forgotten on the floor since the news was heard.

'_Shikamaru…WHY?!'_

The Akimichi grew angrier by the second, enclosing his hands into fists and looking down towards the ground.

"I've told you all the news because I would like to assemble a retrieval team, to bring those three back!" the slug sannin shouted.

Immediately several heads shot up, the heads being Kiba, Chouji, Shino, Ten Ten, and Rock Lee.

"Lady Tsunade, I am definitely going, Naruto and Neji are my ever youthful rivals, and I will see to it that they return home!" the green clad genin shouted.

"I'm in too, I'll help bring those idiots back." said Kiba, while pumping a fist into the air.

Tsunade looked to Chouji, who immediately nodded his head.

Next, she turned to look at Ten Ten, who in return gave a light smile and a nod.

Finally, she turned to the bug user, who was currently debating whether or not he should go.

'_Hm, they've left the village to travel? If I was able to meet up with them outside Konoha, I just might convince them to let me join their little group.'_

Shino had decided, he gave Tsunade a nod.

Tsunade looked to Sakura and Hinata, who were currently crying, although Sakura was faring better than the Hyuuga.

'_Their in no condition to go.'_ the sannin thought to herself.

"Alright guys, go home and pack everything you guys will need, you guys may be gone quite a while, seeing as how they have already put some distance behind them, meet at the gate in an hour. Oh, and by the way…" Tsunade started.

Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"Where the hell is Ino?!"

Ino had started to awaken, as she slowly began to stir, the events of last night hit her, her eyes shot open, and she began to look around frantically at her surroundings. Seeing that she was in Naruto's home, she gave a light sigh, and began to think to herself.

'_Naruto…why, why would you possibly do this?'_

The blonde made her way out of the house, and on to the street, she made her way through town in a daze.

Suddenly, it hit her.

'_I gotta tell lady Tsunade!'_

And with that, she took off to the Hokage's tower.

Tsunade looked across her room at Ino, who was currently gasping for air on the other side of the office.

The girl had burst into the office, yelled something about Naruto, then just started to stare at the sannin, while gasping for air.

"Ino, slow down. What do you need to tell me?"

"Na-Naruto…he's g-gone, he left la-last night." the younger blonde managed to breath out.

Tsunade's eyes widened.

"And you let him go?!"

Ino began to take slow breaths, and then turned back into Tsunade.

"I went to his home last night, he had a backpack, he said he was leaving, and after he said it he must have knocked me out, and left me on his bed."

Tsunade's face turned to a small smirk.

"Well, first of all, I've all ready learned of Naruto leaving, I've sent a team out after him. Second, what were you doing at his house last night?"

A light blush appeared on Ino's cheeks, but the girl shook her head and turned back to the older blonde.

"Please lady Tsunade, it's not important, but who's going to be after Naruto?"

Tsunade's grin disappeared, and a serious look came back to her face.

"I'm going to be sending out your teammate Chouji, along with Rock Lee, Ten Ten, Kiba, and Shino."

"And have they left yet?" the Yamanaka asked anxiously.

"No, they're going to meet at the main gate within the hour, and then they'll be leaving. Why do you want to know?" the sannin questioned.

A small smile graced Ino's face.

"Because I'm going with them."

The younger blonde didn't even wait for a reply, she bolted from the room, and made her way to her house to pack for one of the most important missions she would ever take.

Just outside the window of the Hokage's office, the toad sannin Jiraiya had a solemn look on his face, he had heard the entire conversation.

'_I gotta warn the brat, or he's going to be in some trouble.'_

Wasting no time, the sannin vanished from his place outside the window, and began to make his way to his blonde haired student.

**Ok guys, I'm going to go through a few things, first of all, some of you may notice I don't use the suffixes and that instead I use the dubbed titles like "Lady Tsunade", my reason for that being is because I do not in any shape or form enjoy matching the suffixes with the proper situation. Number two, I was going to post this in the Naruto/Ino section, but I see that a story along the same guidelines had just been posted, in fear of being called a "copycat" by nameless idiots, I will wait until NEXT CHAPTER, and then it's going to that section. That's pretty much it for now, see you all later.**

**Preview of the next chapter.**

A small smirk appeared on Naruto's face.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to come after us."


	5. A setback

**What's up everyone? The story has officially been put in the Naruto/Ino section. Now, since we've actually gotten into the plot of the story, it's time to progress along. Nothing else to really report, so without further ado, lets move on to the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto, it belongs to the great Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Let's get on with the story.**

They had made excellent time.

They knew it.

They weren't worried.

Naruto had a small smirk on his face as he and his team rested in the forest. He had decided they needed a break after traveling for the entire night, and seeing as how they were quite a ways for Konoha, they decided it was time to rest.

He looked at each member of his group.

First he looked to Shikamaru, who was currently in a light conversation with Kankuro.

"Think they've noticed by now?" the shadow user asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they have. I reckon they've sent a team out to get us back by now." the puppet master replied.

"If they've sent out a team, we should get moving in a bit." Shikamaru muttered, as he looked to the leader of the group.

Naruto looked to Temari and Neji, who were currently asleep at different sides of the camp.

The blonde then turned to Gaara, who was propped up against a tree with his eyes closed.

Naruto took one last look at the sleeping members of the team, before nodding to Shikamaru.

"Let them get some rest. We'll leave in two hours." Naruto stated.

Shikamaru and Kankuro nodded, before returning back to their conversation.

**Meanwhile, with the retrieval team.**

They had been traveling even faster than Naruto's squad, and they knew they were catching up.

The team hopped from branch to break in a blinding, breakneck speed, the six members of the team, along with Kakashi's summon, Pakkun.

Ino looked to her left to see her teammate Chouji, who had a determined look on his face. To Chouji's left was Kiba, who had a small smirk on his face.

Ino then turned to her right to see Lee, whose face was in a small frown. To Lee's left was Ten Ten, whose face was facing down, with her eyes closed. Then to Ten Ten's right and the last of the group was Shino whose face was unreadable.

Ino turned to look ahead as she and the team made their way towards Naruto.

**Another part of the forest.**

A red and white blur shot through the forest.

The toad sannin made his way quickly through the forest, he had only one thought as he hopped from branch to branch.

'_I gotta warn the brat.'_

**With Naruto's group.**

Naruto was watching over the group as they slept. He had decided to watch out for the rest of the group, and as much as Gaara protested that Naruto should get some sleep, the Blonde was going to have no part in it.

Naruto had mad himself comfortable up against a tree, he propped himself up against it and began to watch the campsite.

'_I'll wake them up in about an hour, then we can move on. I should probably check out those scrolls the pervy sage gave to me when we get to a town.' _he thought.

About ten minutes had past since he had propped up against the tree when he saw motion to his right, thinking quickly, he managed to reach into his kunai pouch and throw one of the objects to a nearby tree branch.

A bang of metal was heard, and Shikamaru and Gaara shot up ready to fight.

Naruto's eyes widened as Jiraiya appeared in the camp.

"pervy sage?! What are you doing here?!"

Jiraiya gave each member a quick glance before focusing on Naruto.

Jiraiya let out a small chuckle.

"Well brat, you and your group traveled quite the distance in one night."

"Heh, you're not going to try and bring us back are you? I'm just warning you right now, I'm not going back without a fight." a dark smirk was on Naruto's face.

'_Heh, the kid doesn't seem to be kidding around.'_ the toad sannin thought.

"No kid, I'm not here to take you back, I thought I covered that in my note. I'm here to warn you guys that they've sent a retrieval squad to bring you all back."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, before a small smile appeared on his face.

"Damn, who would have thought they would have noticed so quickly? Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. Who did they send after us master Jiraiya?" Shikamaru asked with a yawn.

Jiraiya gave a sigh.

"Tsunade sent Rock Lee, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Ten Ten, Chouji Akimichi, and finally, Ino Yamanaka."

By now Neji had awoken and was listening to the sannin, his eyes had widened at the mention of his two teammates that were coming after him.

Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of the blonde haired girl.

Shikamaru had a small frown on his face at the mention of his best friend and teammate.

"You guys need to get going, their getting closer. They've been traveling about three times faster than you all have. I believe that in another hour they'll be at this location." Jiraiya advised.

"Hey, Jiraiya?" Naruto asked.

"What is it brat?"

"Well, I was thinking, why don't you come with us? We could really use your skills. Plus it would be great to have my sensei with me."

Jiraiya let out a small chuckle.

"Heh, don't worry brat, you'll be fine. I gave you all my jutsu after all. But I can't come with you now, another time and another place maybe."

Naruto gave a smile and a nod.

Jiraiya gave a nod back, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Well, I guess that's it then." Naruto whispered.

"ALRIGHT GUYS! Let's go, We got Konoha shinobi are coming after us and we've got to move." the blonde yelled.

Everyone nodded to him, and after clearing the camp, they set out into the forest.

**Twenty minutes later.**

Naruto's squad had slowed down considerably. They had gone at top speed since they had left the camp, and they were beyond tired. Naruto decided it was time for a rest. He had everyone rest on a branch for ten minutes before continuing onwards.

It was after about five minutes of resting that Naruto noticed six very familiar chakra signatures.

'_Damn, I didn't think they would be this fast. Oh well, I guess it's inevitable. Time to take my old "friends" out.'_

"Guys, their here." Naruto whispered.

Almost on queue six figures appeared, six very pissed off figures.

Naruto looked from each of the members of the retrieval squad.

Chouji was just purely glaring at Shikamaru.

Kiba was looking straight at Naruto with a small grin on his face.

Shino had his usual unreadable expression as he eyed each member of Naruto's group behind his sunglasses.

Ten Ten was spinning a kunai around her index finger while staring at Neji.

Lee was stretching as he had his eyes locked with Neji.

And finally, he saw Ino staring at him with teary eyes.

A small smirk appeared on Naruto's face.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to come after us."

"Shikamaru, can you take Chouji?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru merely nodded and dashed at Chouji, sending them both off the branch and into the forest, punching and kicking at each other while jumping from branch to branch.

"Kankuro." Naruto whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Take Ten Ten."

Kankuro smirked and disappeared.

Ten Ten gave a sigh and disappeared as well.

A few seconds later the sounds of metal banging was heard in the nearby forest.

"Gaara, take down Shino."

"Right."

The cork of Gaara's gourd popped off and a stream of sand shot towards Shino, who shot his hands our of his pockets and blasted a wave of bugs at the red haired shinobi, as the two waves blocked each other out, Shino made a suggestion.

"Lets take this elsewhere."

Gaara merely nodded and the two took off from the rest of the group.

"Neji, you're on Lee."

The Hyuuga wasted no time and activated his Byakugan, and shot a fist into Lee's face, sending the green clad shinobi backwards into the forest. Wasting no time, the Hyuuga disappeared from his position on the branch, making his way towards his ex teammate.

Naruto gave a long sigh as he turned to face Temari.

"Give Ino something to do."

A sinister smirk made its way to the fan users face, and she swung down her fan, sending a huge a huge gust towards her rival blonde. Ino's eyes widened as she registered the gust of wind coming towards her. She back flipped off of her branch, and landed on the forest floor, only to gave more wind sent down her way. Ino took off into the forest, sending kunai soaring towards Temari at every available moment.

Finally, it was just Naruto on one branch, and Kiba on the other, both face each other with smirks on their faces.

"Let's do this dog breath."

**Well guys, that's chapter five. Ok, so from now on, all chapters are in the Naruto/Ino section. The story will not be going back to the Naruto/all section. By the way I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get posted. Hope you all enjoy the pairings for the fights.**

**Preview of the next chapter.**

The battles in the forest echoed throughout the trees, each sound giving the combatants a reason to keep fighting.


End file.
